Bear With Me (Woodland Creek)

by Nicole Blanchard

  I know as soon as we pull up to Declan’s drive that something is wrong. His front door is wide-ass open and the car that Nonna gave Sam to use is still in the drive.

  Declan puts the truck in park and I dive out of the door, my feet pumping through the gravel to his front door. He reaches me before I’m able to go in to make sure it’s just my overactive imagination and that the rock in my gut is for nothing.

  Instead, he pushes me behind him and knocks the door the rest of the way open. It slams against the wall to reveal his empty living room. Or what’s left of it.

  I gasp, taking in the destruction. Glass from lamps and dishes litters the floor. His rug is scrunched to one side and his TV flickers with snow. A hole mars the wall in the dining room. Streaks of blood arc away from the depression and drops of it dot the hardwood floor underneath.

  I don’t feel my knees buckle, I just find myself hitting the floor hard enough to knock my teeth together. I can’t lose him, is all I can think. I lost my parents, I lost my future. I can’t lose my brother, my twin, too.

  Declan investigates his room and the bathroom, but I can feel it in my gut that Sam isn’t here. I take a few deep, calming breaths and try to pull myself together. When I’m reasonably sure that I won’t faint, I get back to my feet and head to the dining room. The sight of what must be Sam’s blood makes me sick, but I choke it down. I don’t have time to be sick now.

  The drops of blood paint the floor from the hole in the wall to the front door. I follow them down the steps and across the gravel until it disappears in the grassy trail which leads to the forest.

  I feel Declan’s presence behind me. “He’s in the forest,” I tell him without turning around. “I have to go after him.”

  “The hell you are,” Declan says, then grabs me by the arms. I kick and scream, but he doesn’t let go. He leads me to the gardening shed behind his cabin.

  “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I seethe.

  “There’s no way in hell I’m going to let you go. Not when I just found you. I’ll go find your brother and I’ll bring him back, but you’re going to sit your sweet ass here until I do.”

  My eyes go round and I screech, “You’re not leaving me here Declan Cain.”

  “If I asked you nicely would you stay here while I go find your brother?”

  “Fuck no!”

  “Then you leave me no choice.” He unlocks the shed and shoves me inside before I’m able to squeeze passed him. Then he slams the door in my face. I hear the padlock click shut before I start screaming bloody murder. His protective side isn’t looking so hot right about now.

  When I finish describing all the ways in which I’m going to eviscerate him when I’m free, I manage to get my anger under control. There has to be a way out of here.

  Light filters in through the cracks in the boards and I hope there aren’t any spiders or other creepy crawlies as I wade through the junk on the counters. I come across a small lighter and give a little cry of victory.

  I cup the lighter in my hands and flick it to life. The light doesn’t do much, but it’s enough to see a few inches more than I had and that was going to have to be enough. The plywood counters are jammed full of fishing crap, which won’t do me any good. I find a bottle of some kind of accelerant and I stick that in the back of my pants in case I need to burn my way out of here. I’d rather go down in a blaze of glory than be stuck here while my brother is in trouble.

  The counters don’t prove helpful, so I get down on my knees and crawl around the baseboards, hoping for a gap big enough for me to squeeze through. I give a cry of triumph when I find a patched spot with a piece of plywood. If I’m able to bust the wood off, it should be just big enough for me to squeeze through.

  I shove the lighter into my pocket and crouch down under the counter. I lay on my back in the dirt and kick the plywood with both feet. It splits down the middle with a satisfying crack. A few more solid kicks and I’m able to peel the wood the rest of the way off the walls. Chunks cling to the sides and the corners, but screw it.

  I get down on my belly and slither in the dirt. I slide one arm though because trying to fit both of my shoulders through would never work. Then I fit my head through the hole, followed by the other shoulder. I grab handfuls of grass and use them to pull my body the rest of the way through.

  Covered in dirt, a couple hundred spider webs and grass stains, I stalk into the forest. The early evening light throws shadows all around me, but unlike the previous night, I’m no longer scared of them. My brother is in danger and that’s the only thing that matters.

  Urgency causes me to pick up the pace. I twist in all directions trying to find a sign of Sam or Declan. I’m jogging by the time the clearing where the tornado hit comes into view. I'm so focused on seeing through the half-light and foliage that I don’t see the big ass hole in front of me until it’s too late.

  The next thing I know I’m airborne, then I land awkwardly on my ankle, the sharp pain shooting up my leg. I crumple, falling sideways to try and take the weight off of it. The light from the lighter does little to illuminate the area so I curl into a ball, my sinuses tingling in an effort to keep the tears of pain and panic at bay.

  The tell-tale sound of footsteps sends ice shooting through my veins.

  Sullivan

  The sound of footsteps comes to a halt and I hear someone or something rustling in the grass at the top of the hole. I cower against the earthen wall, my ankle throbbing, my entire body shaking with the adrenaline coursing through my system.

  Red peeks his head over the corner and I feel faint with relief. “Oh my God. Oh my God, I’m so glad it’s you.”

  He kneels down, flashing his flashlight around the hole. “What did you get yourself into here?”

  I hold up the lighter and he jumps backward, holding a hand up to his face. “I have no idea, but I’d be eternally grateful if you could help me get out of this. I have to find Declan.”

  “Don’t worry. We’ll find him,” Red says.

  “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” I yell. “You wouldn’t happen to have a rope or something that you could throw down here, do you? Or, if you think you could reach, I’ll grab ahold of your hand and pull myself up.”

  “I don’t have any rope and I’m not sure if these old bones would be of much use to you. Why don’t you just sit tight while I find Declan?” he asks.

  “No!” My fingers pull at the exposed roots and slick mud, hoping for a foothold. “Please don’t leave me here. I have to find Declan. My brother is out here somewhere and I can’t let them get hurt. You have to help me!”

  He moves with shocking speed, dropping to his knees and gripping the lip of the hole with his fingers. His face is gaunt in the light of the moon and I don’t know if it’s the cast of shadows or the tilt of his lips, but his face has taken on a menacing air. That suspicion is confirmed when he says, “Silly girl. No one is going to help you. Just like no one helped me.”

  My brain trips over itself as it attempts to comprehend what Red is saying. He circles around the hole which makes me feel increasingly dizzy. I manage to get my bearings and then I notice the blood on his clothes and the deep scratch on his face.

  “What happened to you?” I whisper.

  “Now that’s a good question,” he says, his lips spreading into a sinister grin. “One I think you should know since it involves your kin, after all.” My brow furrows as he continues. Then realization dawns and I wish I could forget everything that he’s saying. “Fifteen years ago, Declan, his mom, dad, and me took a group of folks on a routine hunt. The winter was harsh that year, but there was a herd that made for good game. It wasn’t supposed to be a big thing. Just a few days in, a few days out. Piece of cake. We didn’t expect the storm. The snowfall was unreal. It was the worst winter storm Indiana had ever seen. And we were stuck right in the middle of it with no way out.”

  I can’t help but think about a fourteen-year-old Declan being stuck in the woods d
uring the middle of a snowstorm where he must have watched as his father died. I think of the somber man who gave me the shirt off his back to keep me warm, the man that took me on the most romantic date of my life just to impress me. Tears spill down my cheeks because I know Red isn’t telling me these things to save me. He’s telling me because he knows that I’m right where he wants me.

  “There was an accident,” Red recalls. “Some members of the group were injured when one of the trees snapped from the weight of snow and ice. It trapped a couple of them, myself included. Declan’s daddy was one of the trapped ones and your Poppa Joe. I would have never made it out alive. Not with the temperatures dropping the way they were, but Declan was special. That boy was fast and strong like you wouldn’t believe.” Red leers at me. “Though I suppose you’re pretty acquainted with him now aren’t you? Anyway, we sent Declan in the direction of town, though we all knew none of us would be alive by the time he brought help back.

  “We were there for three days total. Do you know what that does to a man? The fear of death. A slow, agonizing death. You reach a point where you’ll do just about anything to stay alive. You’ll make hard decisions. Take lives. Anything. Kill or be killed,” he murmurs, looking off into the distance.

  “What did you do?” I ask, though I have a sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach that says I don’t want to know. But I have to. For Poppa Joe. For Declan and his dad. If I’m going to have any hope of getting all of us out of these woods alive I need to know exactly what we’re dealing with.

  He turns back to me, eyes red and flat. “By then we were sure Declan hadn’t made it out of the storm alive. It was just me, James, and Joe who remained. The others had died. Exposure and the like. The three of us were used to roughing it so we managed as best we could. It wasn’t enough. Nothing we could have done would be enough.”

  My chest heaves as the sense of dread grows. I can’t look away from him even though I want to.

  “I ate Joe first.” I stumble backwards and press my back against the cold dirt wall as he continues, “I managed to get free of the tree, but my leg was lame and I wasn’t going to go anywhere on a bum leg. Not trapped like we were and freezing to death on top of it. After Joe, well, I was just so hungry. Even hungrier than I had been before. I couldn’t eat enough. Thought I would die from the pain. James was out of it by then, nearly gone from the cold, so I ate him, too. But by then, I really started to enjoy it.” He speaks the last few thoughts like he’s relishing a fond memory, licking his lips and smiling a little, even.

  At that, I lose my battle against the churning nausea in my stomach and vomit on the dirt floor. Of all the things I’d imagined, this was nowhere on the list. Poor Nonna. Poor Declan. This wasn’t even a man anymore, I realize, there is no humanity left at all. This…thing in front of me is a monster.

  Red’s head snaps up as though he’s heard something. My heart thuds in my chest. Is it Declan? On one hand I want him to come, to save me again so that I know he’s safe, but on another, I can sense that something is terribly wrong here, and I don’t want him to come to my rescue if it is only going to get him hurt. Red is dangerous on a level that I can’t begin to comprehend and I’d rather die trying to keep him from Declan than to lose him.

  “You stay here, now. I’ll be back soon,” Red says cryptically. Then I watch as his teeth elongate, his eyes turn a darker blood red, and his skin leeches of all color. He hisses, baring his razor-sharp teeth and I can’t restrain the scream that rips through my throat any longer. I throw myself back against the wall, scrabbling to get as far away as possible.

  I strain to listen as his footsteps recede into nothingness. When I’m certain he’s gone, I get to work trying to escape…again. Roots stick out of the soil and I test each one until I find a sturdy one a few feet above me. I manage to grab onto it and find a foothold in the soil wall with my uninjured foot. I find another, but with my sore ankle it takes everything I have not scream out in pain as I put all of my weight on it.

  I repeat the process until I’m able to throw my arms over the lip of the hole. There’s a slim-trunked tree a little ways away and I manage to get my arms around the base of it to pull myself the rest of the way out.

  My eyes dart around the tree-line, searching for his pale white skin against the darkness. When I see nothing, I get to my feet and limp away from that hellhole. I make it halfway around the clearing when I hear the shouts. I pause and try to quiet my thundering pulse. I hear it again, coming from the door to the cellar which is the only thing remaining of the old tourist center.

  I check the clearing for signs of Red. When I don’t see any, I dart from the cover of the trees to the cellar door. My ankle gives out just as I reach the door. Leaning heavily against it, I whisper-shout, “Sam! Sam, is that you?”

  “Sullivan, thank fucking God,” Sam answers.

  I find a hefty rock nearby and get to work smashing the lock to the door. It busts free and I rip it off, throwing it somewhere over my shoulder. I throw the door open and launch myself at Sam when he appears in the doorway.

  “I’m so sorry,” I say. “I’m so sorry I’ve been such a bitch to you. I’m sorry I shut you out when Mom and Dad died. I’m sorry for every horrible, terrible thing I’ve ever said to you.”

  He wraps his arms around me, too. “I should get kidnapped more often,” Sam says against my hair.

  I pull away long enough to deliver several sharp thwacks to his chest. “Don’t. Ever. Do. That. Again. Sam. Thomas.”

  “Trust me, the last thing I want to do is have a repeat of today. What the fuck was that thing?”

  I shake my head against his chest. “Something. I don’t know…something else. This is the weirdest fucking town,” I say. “First there’s bear shifters, now freaky creatures with weird eyes that eat humans.”

  “Wait, they have bear shifters, too?” he asks in alarm. “And who eats humans?”

  My brow furrows and I release Sam from the hug. “What do you mean they have bear shifters, too?”

  “That…thing. Whatever it is. When it found me at Declan’s place, it brought me here and tied me up before putting me in the cellar. I watched it chase a wolf that turned into a woman. I know that sounds crazy, trust me, I’m not on drugs or anything, but I watched it with my own eyes. Then it killed it and ate it. With its bare hands. When it was done it was faster, way faster, than before. It fucking ran around on all fours. Maybe I am going crazy, but it looked like it was turning into a wolf, too.”

  I think about Declan and how fast and strong he is. How quickly he was able to heal after I bandaged him up.

  Then I realize that Red had the chance to kill both Sam and I and he didn’t. He isn’t after us. We’re human.

  He is after Declan.

  Sullivan

  “We have to find him,” I say.

  But Sam is already shaking his head, his eyes wide. “The hell we do. If he’s a fucking bear he can take care of himself. I mean what the fuck, Sully? First I find out that you’re a wizard or some shit and now you’re dating a zoo animal?” I start to object, but he cuts me off. “You bet your ass we’re going to talk about that. Later. What we need to do now is get the fuck out of these woods before fuckface gets back and changes his mind about having us for dinner, if you know what I mean.”

  “I’m not going to leave him here, Sam, just like I wouldn’t leave you here. Now c’mon. We have to find Declan before Red does. If you’re right and he’s killing shifters to absorb their powers, he could be stronger than Declan now. And if that’s the case, he may not have much time.”

  I peer around the clearing, but I can’t see much in the distance. Running Deer National forest is huge. So big that Declan could be anywhere by now.

  “Why even take us in the first place?” Sam asks. “I mean if he doesn’t eat regular humans, then why even go to the trouble to take me or trap you?”

  My body freezes and I turn to face Sam, whose face has also frozen mid-question, the both
of us coming to the same conclusion.

  “We’re bait,” I whisper and I nearly heave what little contents I have in my stomach all over my shoes.

  “Keep it together for fuck’s sake. We have to get out of here.”

  That manages to snap me out of my fear. I remember the can of accelerant in my back pocket when I hear the thunder of feet racing toward us. My heart stops and I forget the horror in front of me for the one on its way. Declan appears in the tree-line, his body in bear form. Dark fur covers his visible skin, his muzzle longer, and his teeth sharper and more deadly. He’s huge normally, but this way he’s nearly eight feet of pure, powerful muscle and claws.

  When his eyes land on me the sound of his growl fills the night air. Behind me I hear Sam whisper, “Holy shit he really is a fucking bear.”

  My mind races, but every scenario I envision ends with someone I love dying, and I can’t bear to lose anyone else. And what a hell of a time to realize that I’ve fallen for him. For this beast I get to call my own. If we make it through this, I vow that I’ll make sure he knows it every day for the rest of our lives.

  By the time he reaches me, he looks more bear than human. I manage to throw my hands around his throat. His claws come around my back. “Please, we have to go, Dec. Let’s go now. It’s not safe here.”

  “Didn’t I tell you to stay in the shed? What the fuck are you doing out here?”

  “Like I was going to let you go in here alone. We’re in this together, remember?” I kiss the fur covering his jaw, cupping it in my hands to feel what he’s thinking. I see my face in his mind and hear his responding growl. There’s no way he’s going to let this go. Hopelessness unfurls, a putrid reminder of our gruesome fate if we take one misstep. “Please,” I beg, “please let’s just go before something else bad happens.”

  Sam joins us. “C’mon man. We can talk about it back at your place.”

  A sound above me catches my attention. Like the sound of a thousand people all whispering at once. My heart thuds dully in my chest and my hands grow clammy. I look up and come face to face with the thing that had once been a man named Red.